Greater Bay Area is perfect stepping stone for Hong Kong start-ups to go global: former minister
- Greater Bay Area market of 70 million potential customers offers perfect environment for Hong Kong firms to expand, former financial secretary says
- But members of the financial community say Hong Kong companies are yet to enjoy the benefits of the vast market and that doors must be opened up further
The Greater Bay Area could just be the ticket for Hong Kong start-ups and companies to go global, but it will only work if restrictions are eased further, a former minister says.
Chan Ka-keung, the former Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury and now a senior adviser to home-grown unicorn online lender WeLab, told the Post in an interview that because of Hong Kong’s limited scope given its population of 7 million, it is imperative that the city’s start-ups tap the Greater Bay Area market of 70 million people.
“If start-ups in Hong Kong could enter the Greater Bay Area, they can then build up scale and size that are big enough to enter other overseas markets,” said Chan. “Without scale, it is very hard for them to enter other markets. This is why the Greater Bay Area is so important.”
The Greater Bay Area refers to the Chinese government’s scheme to link Hong Kong and Macau with the southern cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub, rivalling Silicon Valley.
To boost Hong Kong’s technology and innovation development, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in September that her government would set aside HK$28 billion (US$3.6 billion) for research and development in universities and re-industrialisation for innovation and technology.